Nothing To Fear After All
by GoldGuardian2418
Summary: When another boy finds out about the Hauntleys, he goes into defensive mode, ready to deal with them. Can they prove they are harmless? Done for eacox1787. :)
1. Fears Out In The Open

**eacox1787 asked for this one. Here you go, Amigo! :) Enjoy and Happy belated Birthday! :) **

**Vampirina belongs to Disney. I only own David.**

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**Nothing To Fear After All**

**Chapter 1: Fears Out In The Open **

It was Halloween in Pennsylvania and a twelve-year-old boy was walking down the street, glancing at the decorations before shaking his head. "Can't believe I used to be scared of something made up," he said to himself.

The boy was called David and he had short blonde curly hair and brown eyes. He was currently wearing his favorite dark blue hoddie, black jeans, and neon blue sneakers while carrying his backpack as he was walking from school. He saw some young kids out and about dressed up in costumes and carrying treat buckets and bags, ready to go trick-or-treating. He smiled, but recalled how he would get scared to the point that he wouldn't want to dress up and go trick-or-treating, though that had changed over the years.

"Come on, man. I'm almost thirteen. Being scared by make believe stuff is really stupid now," he said to himself, though when he was six-years-old, it had been scary, especially with bully classmates creating spooky stories to scare you.

David continued walking and happened to glance up to see a small house that was decorated for Halloween. "Wow," he said in admiration. "These guys really did a good job."

A young girl came out and she gasped, waving happily. "Hi!" She said, coming closer. "Are you trick-or-treating?"

He smiled and shook his head. "Haven't had time to go change," he said.

"Well, how about my family and I give you a treat anyway?" She asked and headed back inside, grabbing something and coming back out, giving David a candied apple. "Our family chef made them for the trick-or-treaters."

The boy bit into the candied apple and smiled. "Mmm. This is delicious," he said. "Please give my compliments to your chef and to your family. You guys did good on the décor."

"The décor?" She asked before her eyes widened. "Oh! Yeah, they did."

She held out a hand. "I'm Vampirina," she said.

"Vampirina? That's a neat name," he said with a smile. "I'm David. My folks and I just moved here about a month ago."

Vampirina smiled. "I've seen you walking past here. Do you live nearby?" She asked.

He pointed down the road. "Just down the road a bit," he answered. "Well, have a good day, Vampirina. And thank you for the candy apple."

"You're welcome," she said and went back inside the house.

Smiling, David continued on his way, pausing when he saw two girls heading towards him, but were looking back and one girl looked scared. "I hope those bullies aren't coming," the scared girl said.

"Don't worry, Bridget. Vee and I will keep those creeps from bothering you," the other girl said.

"Thanks, Poppy," Bridget replied. "But...are we really going to go to Vee's house for the party later?"

"Yeah!" Poppy said with excitement. "Chef Remy is going to make a special Transylvanian dish and we're bringing the apples for the bobbing for apples game, remember?"

"Oh, yeah," the young girl said. "I just...I hope it doesn't get too scary."

David could sympathize as he had once been as scared as Bridget. "I know the feeling," he said, surprising the girls. "But you know it's all make believe, right?"

Both girls seemed stunned before Poppy perked up. "Uh, yeah! Of course," she said. "Monsters aren't real. Right, Bridget?"

"Um, yeah," the bespectacled girl said. "What she said."

"There they are!" A voice cried out and the girls cringed at seeing the bullies running up to them.

Poppy looked around. "Come on! We're almost at Vee's house!" She said and began running.

"Wait for me!" Bridget cried out, running as well.

David stood between them and the bullies and he glared at the creeps. "Hey, get lost!" He said, glaring at them.

"Out of the way, newbie!" One of the bullies yelled at him.

But the twelve-year-old stood firm. "Leave those kids alone!" He said.

One of the bullies sneered at him. "What are you going to do about it, punk?" They asked.

"Keep you kids here until I get ahold of your parents," came a voice and they turned to find a policeman beside David. Another policeman came around and herded the three bullies to the police car as the first policeman nodded. "We'll take care of these three. That was a brave thing to do, kid."

"Thanks, sir. I just don't like bullies," the twelve-year-old said before deciding to go check on Poppy and Bridget. He saw them stop outside the same house where he met Vampirina, and so he went up to them, noting they were about to go in. "You two are friends with Vampirina?" He asked.

They looked surprised. "Yes, but how do you know her?" Poppy asked.

"I just met her a moment ago and she gave me a candy apple," he replied.

Both girls looked relieved at that. "Oh, Chef Remy made those for the party," Bridget said.

"Chef Remy?" David asked.

"He's the resident chef for the bed-and-breakfast that Vee's parents run," Poppy said, being careful not to reveal that the chef was a skeleton. "He's an awesome cook."

The boy nodded. "Well, why don't we get you two inside?" He said, concerned the bullies might have friends hanging around.

"Um, yeah," Bridget said, looking nervous, as did Poppy. David thought they were afraid of the decorations.

"They're just fake decorations," he said calmly to help them calm down.

"Right," Poppy said.

David rang the doorbell, which screamed, making him jump slightly, but he chuckled. "They've really got a good set up here for the holiday," he remarked.

Vampirina opened the door. "Oh, hi, guys!" She said happily before seeing David. "Oh, hi, David. How was the apple?"

"Delicious," he said. "I just wanted to make sure these two were okay. Some bullies were chasing them."

Vampirina looked worried and invited them in, thankful that with Halloween here, she didn't have to hide any of the spooky décor from their guest. Edna and Edgar came over moments later, as did Bridget's parents and as the adults were talking, David was looking around the old house. He thought he saw one of the paintings move, but then shook his head. "Probably just a special effect," he said to himself.

As he came back over to see if Poppy and Bridget were feeling better and to say farewell as he needed to get back home, he saw something that made his eyes pop.

Vampirina turned into a bat and was flying around the room, showing off a few tricks. A blue ghost suddenly appeared and looked snappy in his Sherlock Holmes costume. But then a stone gargoyle came out to join the fun.

And that took the cake for David.

"It can't be," he said softly as he tried to calm down, but he was seeing his childhood fears and this time, they were real.

A skeleton came out of the kitchen and nearly bumped into him. "Oh! Gracious! What are you doing here?" He asked with a French accent.

David backed away from him before seeing everyone looking at him. "David? Are you okay?" Poppy asked in worry.

"They're real," the twelve-year-old bot said, his voice going small before his back his the door. "They're real! My childhood nightmares are coming true!"

Oxana and Boris looked worried now as they could see the boy was afraid. "Wait, don't be frightened," the red-haired vampiress said gently.

"We mean no harm," Boris said.

"It's okay, David," Edna said. "The Hauntleys and their family are really nice."

David was even more afraid now and without another word, he fled out the door, running down the street to his home and racing inside, his mind telling him to look up everything that would either get rid of a monster or help him fight monsters.

He had a chilling thought. What if they were coming to his home? He immediately turned on his computer, grabbing a notepad and a pen, ready to research and write down what he found.

He needed to be ready. Those monsters could come knocking at his door at any moment. After all, vampires, ghosts, and ghouls weren't something to be taken lightly.

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**Well, looks like someone else knows the secret of the Scare B&B. What will happen next? Read on! :) **

**And please leave a review, but no flames! **

**GoldGuardian2418 **


	2. Seeking Protection

**Chapter 2: Seeking Protection **

David searched for information on vampires first and first read up on Dracula, the most famous of vampires. "A vampire's powers include hypnosis, manipulating shadows, speed, turning into a bat, and injecting victims with a venom that makes them turn into undead armies for his to command," he read aloud. "Vampires are always in need of fresh blood and therefore hunt for thralls, usually female, to satisfy their blood needs.

"A thrall is bound to the vampire after the vampire has bitten them. Instead of using his venom, the vampire will drink the thrall's blood, but just enough to make the thrall feel tired and need rest. Because he won't drain the thrall's blood, vampires usually need more than one thrall to satisfy their blood needs and if a thrall should try to escape, the vampire can easily track them down by the smell of their blood and the mark he has put on them. The mark is to ensure that no other vampire touches his thrall, as even kidnapping another vampire's thrall is forbidden.

"A thrall can only be released from the vampire either by the vampire himself, which would usually lead to the victim's blood being drained, or by a mixture of garlic, onions, and rosemary. Vampires dislike the smell of these three things and will stay away from someone who has these items. A wooden stake to the heart also is good to take care of vampires, but one must be close enough to do so."

David wrote that down before looking up on how to get rid of ghosts before recalling something. "A cross. Ghosts can't touch holy items," he said to himself, writing that down before looking up how to get rid of ghouls, finding almost the same answer as to get rid of ghosts, though with ghouls made of stone, trapping them in something like mud or cement would stop them as would breaking them into pieces and scattering the pieces.

He began to think about what he could do and immediately went up into the attic to search for anything that could help. He found his dad's old hockey armor and put that on and he happened to find a cross that his mother had been given sometime back and had probably forgotten was in the attic. "Okay, cross and armor, check. Now for a wooden stake," he said and went into the backyard.

It was his fortune that his father had been working on building a new shed and had left some cut pieces of wood nearby just in case he needed them. The twelve-year-old found one that would do fine for a stake and was pleased it had a sharp point at one end. He then went into the garden and plucked some branches of rosemary before going into the kitchen and cutting up some cloves of garlic and some slices of onion, putting all three items in plastic bags. "Perfect," he said as he made enough bags to keep himself safe and save Poppy and Bridget and their families.

He felt a twinge of sadness that he had accepted a candy apple from Vampirina, though she had seemed nice. Then again, vampires would do anything to reel in someone to be their slave or even part of their army.

Thankful that his parents were out of town for the weekend, David hunkered by the door, clutching the precious items close to him as he grabbed his dad's old hockey stick for good measure, ready to defend his home and life.

Poppy had seen where David had gone and led the others there. "I hope we can talk to him and get him to see he doesn't have to be afraid," she said.

"Well, remember how it took Mom and I a bit to see that the Hauntleys were harmless?" Edgar asked quietly.

"True," Edna admitted. "But then Chef Remy and King Pepi proved that we didn't have to worry."

"I don't know. This young David might not be so willing to listen," Boris said.

"I'll scout ahead," Demi said and floated up to David's home, being careful as he peeked in and saw the boy was armed to the teeth and ready to face off the monsters, though he seemed afraid too. Curious, the blue ghost told the others.

"So he's afraid, but willing to face us to defeat us?" Oxana asked.

"How do we show him he doesn't have to worry?" Vampirina asked.

"Perhaps it would be best for Miss Edna and the children to stay out here while the rest of us go to face the boy," Remy suggested. "If he is armed to attack, they might get hurt."

Edna agreed. "We'll wait out here," she said. "Be careful."

"We will," Boris said with a nod before looking at his daughter. "Stay with Miss Edna, our little bat."

"Yes, Papa," Vampirina said, though she was a bit scared. When Edgar had found out her secret and later Edna, they had just stayed away until Chef Remy and King Pepi had stepped in to help, although Edna had put garlic around her home in hopes of keeping the vampires from getting to the kids. She had removed that after making amends with the Hauntleys, though her house had smelled like garlic for a few days afterwards.

Demi, Gregoria, Oxana, Boris, and Chef Remy went up to the door and knocked first, hoping to at least show that they were being neighborly and braced themselves to face any attack the boy had.

David jumped at the sound of the knock and he got up and carefully opened the door before jumping back at seeing the monsters there. "Get back!" He warned, brandishing the hockey stick and the cross.

"Please, don't be alarmed," Oxana said, stepping into the house.

"We truly mean no harm," Boris said gently.

The twelve-year-old year old stood firm despite being afraid. "Yeah, right!" He said. "You'll regret coming here and after I'm done with you all, I'll free those humans you're using as thralls!"

They looked shocked. "We are not using humans as thralls!" Remy said, his face hard with anger.

"No way!" Demi said, shaking his head.

"Humans haven't been used as thralls in several hundred years," Gregoria said. "Not since the peace treaties between monsters and humans."

David got one of the bags of garlic, rosemary, and onion ready in his hand to throw. "You can't trick me!" He said before throwing the bag, which exploded against the floor, sending chopped garlic, chopped onion, and rosemary to the floor.

The aroma was appauling, to say the least.

Boris coughed harshly. "Gracious, that is strong," he said.

"What a terrible odor!" Chef Remy said, the fumes hitting him strongly.

"Ugh! You trying to stink up the place, kid?" Gregoria asked.

Oxana felt her eyes water from the stench. "Garlic," she said in horror.

To David's surprise, while the stench was a bit unbearable, it didn't send the monsters running. Thinking he needed a stronger batch, he threw another bag, making it explode and the stench become stronger. "Stop!" Demi said. "You'll make the Hauntleys sick!"

"Good!" The boy said, his brown eyes hard. "Because you're not welcomed here."

"Alright! That's it!" Chef Remy said, moving forward, walking through the fumes of the vegetables and herbs. "Time to settle this, boy!"

David brandished his weapons. "Bring it on! I'm not afraid of you!"

The skeleton could see that wasn't true as the boy was slightly shaking and he cocked a brow bone before smirking and making his scariest face and roaring.

The twelve-year-old jumped back in surprise and went to throw another bag of the pungent mixture, but couldn't find any. "Looking for these?" The blue ghost asked as he held up the bags. "You're not going to use these again."

Feeling more trapped, David held out the cross and raised the wooden stake to throw it, but just as he released it, Gregoria jumped up and deflected the stake. "You gonna poke someone's eye out with that!" She scolded.

Now with only the cross, hockey stick, and hockey armor for his protection, the boy tried standing tall, but that was hard. "Keep away from me!" He said, holding out the cross, trying to keep his hands from shaking. "I won't let you monsters hurt anyone else and I will release your thralls!"

"We don't have thralls!" Boris exclaimed, the very idea filling him with horror.

"Get him!" Remy declared and charged. David swung the hockey stick, but to this shock, the skeleton simply jumped over it or separated briefly before coming back together again.

"Stop him before someone gets hurt!" Oxana said worriedly.

The boy grew scared as the five closed in on him and he held out the cross again. "Go away!" He declared.

"Can't do that," Gregoria said with a shrug.

Seeing the skeleton and ghost coming closer, David tried to hold his ground, but knew he needed to get to someplace higher and a bit more secure to fight off these creatures.

He turned and ran, hearing them run after him and he didn't dare look back, knowing that if he looked back or stopped, he'd be caught by the monsters, which he didn't want.

As he was running, he hit the scatter rug in the hallway and went down hard, dropping the cross and hockey stick. He tried to get up, but his body was temporarily frozen in shock and pain, giving the monsters the chance to grab him. "No! Let go!" He demanded, trying to grab either the cross or the hockey stick, but they stopped him.

"Calm down," Oxana said, her voice soothing.

David covered his ears. "No!" He cried out, recalling how soft tones were often used with hypnosis to make it more effective. He closed his eyes tightly too as he struggled to get free.

Remy sighed as he helped the Hauntleys hold down the boy. "He's terrified," he said softly. "Yet brave enough to try and face his fears."

Demi and Gregoria didn't look happy. "Mr. Hauntley, you and Mrs. Hauntley may have to use your hypnosis," the gargoyle said.

"Before it's too late," Demi said.

Oxana and Boris looked at each other and nodded, to which Gregoria, Demi, and Remy held the boy down while Boris gently pulled the boy's hands away from his ears. "No!" David screamed out. "Help! Somebody!"

"Shh," Boris said softly. "Calm down."

"Don't be afraid," Oxana soothed as she and her husband began using their hypnosis, but the boy's eyes were closed. Remy reached his hands towards the boy's underarms and gently poked his fingers there, making David's eyes fly open in surprise. It only too that one second of his brown eyes to meet the four eyes glowing a light blue with hypnosis and he struggled, but couldn't close his eyes as the hypnosis was too strong to look away from.

"That's it," he heard the male vampire said gently.

"Just relax," the female vampire said.

David tried to fight it, but couldn't. "No," he pleaded weakly.

"Shh," he heard Boris shush him. "Go to sleep, young man. You'll feel better when you wake up."

The twelve-year-old's body went limp and his eyes closed as he lost consciousness. Remy gently picked him up, shaking his head sadly. "Let's hope he'll be more willing to listen when he wakes up," he said.

"We'll know in about an hour," Oxana said as they headed back to the Scare B&B.

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**Hmm. What do you think will happen? Read on! :)**

**Oh, and I mostly made up with the facts about monsters. **

**And please leave a review, but no flames! **

**GoldGuardian2418 **


	3. Misunderstanding Cleared

**Chapter 3: Misunderstanding Cleared **

_One hour later..._

David felt tired, but struggled to wake up as his eyes felt heavy. A hand rested on his shoulder and he managed to fully wake up, seeing a skeleton face looking down at him. Freezing as he realized with horror that he had no means of defense against this monster, the twelve-year-old actually began trembling.

To his surprise, the skeleton's face softened. "Shh, easy now, young one," he soothed before picking up a glass of water from the table and bringing it to the boy, who looked at it and leaned back a bit more. "It's alright. It's only water. I thought you might be thirsty when you woke up."

While he was thirsty, he wasn't sure about the water, something the skeleton seemed to notice. "There's nothing in it to hurt you, I assure you," he said, smiling gently. "Believe me, if the Hauntleys had wanted to hurt you, they would have done so long before now."

That didn't completely put the boy at ease. "How do I know this isn't a trick?" He asked.

"How do we know that you won't blab out our secret to everyone?" Remy countered gently.

David blinked before seeing the skeleton had a point. They didn't know if they could trust him and he didn't know if he could trust them, but...if they had wanted to hurt him, they would have done so already, as the skeleton had pointed out. A gentle poke to his stomach made him jump and look to see the skeleton was smirking at him as he gently poked him again. "Now, why don't you drink this water and I'll see about getting you something to eat? You surely must be hungry after all that."

Swallowing hard but deciding to take a chance, David took the water glass from the chef and went to sit up, something the skeleton helped with. He took a small sip of the water before eagerly drinking it down, not realizing how thirsty he had really been and the water tasted wonderful. Remy smiled as he saw this.

The boy looked up at him. "I don't understand," he admitted. "You're a monster. Why...Why would you be so nice to me?"

The skeleton looked amused. "Perhaps because I'm not a mean monster and neither are my employers," he said. "You needn't fear."

The twelve-year-old looked so confused before feeling Remy take his arm gently and guide him to the kitchen, leading him to the table and having him sit down. "What is your name, boy?" He asked.

The boy swallowed a bit. "David," he said.

"David, I am Chef Remy Bones, the resident chef of the Scare B&B," the skeleton said. "I was about to start on lunch. Grilled cheese with pickles and homemade fries with cherry cobbler for desert."

David blinked, noting how those sounded like human dishes. "You...uh...You cook human foods?" He asked.

"Why yes," Remy said with a smile. "As a chef, it's good for me to know how to cook both human and monster foods, especially where we have both humans and monsters that come to spend the night."

The twelve-year-old didn't know what to say and felt the skeleton ruffle his hair in a playful manner before going to start on lunch. David just sat there, but jumped when he saw Oxana, Boris, Vampirina, Poppy, and Bridget come in. He noticed that the two human girls didn't look afraid, nor did they have bite marks on their necks. "How are you feeling?" He heard Oxana asked him.

"Um...confused, honestly," he admitted.

To his surprise, they smiled in amusement and understanding. "You think we're evil monsters," Boris said, but it sounded more like a gentle statement than an accusatory remark.

"Um...yes?" David said softly.

Oxana sat down while her husband stood behind her and the girls sat down too. Edgar came in and joined them too. "Not many people know our secret," the red-haired vampiress said gently.

"Cause not everyone understands that we don't want to hurt anyone," Vampirina said softly. "We just want to be friends with humans."

David blinked. "But...you're vampires," he said. "You need blood to survive and...well, humans have the blood you need."

"True, but we vampires have another source that we use in place of human blood," Boris said. "And it's better too."

Edgar nodded. "I used to think they were evil too, until they showed me they weren't," he said. "The Hauntleys really are cool and so are the other monsters here, like Chef Remy, Gregoria, and Demi."

The twelve-year-old suddenly felt something nuzzle his shoulder and he turned to find himself looking at a plant that looked like a large, Venus flytrap plant. "Whoa!" He cried out, falling out of his chair and scooting backwards.

"Wait! It's okay," Vampirina said.

Bridget went up to the plant. "Penelope's really nice," she said, giggling when she felt the plant playfully nuzzle her neck. David watched in surprise, but he noticed how the plant seemed gentle. He saw Boris come closer and offer him a hand, which he took gratefully, and the male vampire helped him up.

Poppy smiled. "See? They might look scary at first, but everyone here is really nice," she said, giggling as Demi gently tugged her short ponytail.

Chef Remy smiled. "Lunch is ready," he said as he came bearing the plates of food. David was surprised and watched as everyone sat together, humans and monsters alike, and ate happily. Deciding that it would be rude to leave the table before lunch ended, he tried the food and was surprised again.

_Wow, he can cook, _he thought to himself.

He was beginning to think the information he had looked up was wrong. Poppy, Bridget, and Edgar, along with their parents, didn't seem to be under any spells or acting like thralls. He wasn't too sure what to think.

After lunch, introductions were made and everyone gathered in the living room. "So, vampires don't use thralls anymore?" David asked.

"Not for hundreds of years," Gregoria said. "My great-grandpa said that a peace treaty was made between the humans and monsters after the monsters settled in Transylvania, but it was uneasy for the first few years."

"The information you read actually branches out from the darkest parts of monster history," Boris explained. "We are ashamed of that, to be honest."

"A terrible time, it was," Remy said sadly.

Demi nodded. "It's much better to be friends with humans instead," he said.

Edna nodded and looked at David. "Believe me, I was scared too and put garlic around my home when I first learned my neighbors were vampires," she said. "But...Chef Remy and King Pepi proved that I didn't have to be afraid."

"King Pepi?" The boy asked.

"He's the mummy from the museum," Edgar supplied helpfully. "He healed my arm one time when I got hurt."

The more he listened to what they said, the more he began to believe they were telling the truth. "So, how many do know of your secret?" He asked.

"Just us few," Poppy said. "And we help keep their secret as not everyone would understand."

Boris looked at David. "Can we trust you to keep our secret too, David?" He asked.

The twelve-year-old looked thoughtful before nodding. "You guys have proven that you're nothing like the nightmares I used to have as a kid about monsters," he admitted. "I swear I won't tell another person about your secret."

"Thank you," Oxana said.

Vampirina noticed the time. "Hey! It's almost time for trick-or-treating and the party!" She said before looking at David. "You're welcome to join us."

He smiled. "I think I will," he said.

As trick-or-treaters came to the door and the party got going, David smiled, seeing that the Hauntleys and the monsters were really cool, just as Edgar had said.

He now felt lucky to be one of the few humans to know about them and to be allowed to keep their secret.

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**Looks like the Hauntleys have a new ally. :) **

**Please leave a review, but no flames! **

**GoldGuardian2418 **


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